
A TRUE PICTORIAL STORY 





Book 



phi SExn n in 



YUJTLA. 

ancl 

YUi^A VALLEY 
a. trtxe pictorial story 



OF THE 

MOST PROMISING 

CITY AND THE MOST 

RICHLY ENDOWEDSEC- 

TION OFTHE GREAT 

SOUTHWEST 




FOR CONFIRMATION OF ANY REPRESENTATION HEREIN MADE THE 
FULLEST INVESTIGATION IS INVITED, AND READERS ARE REFERRED TO 
THE VARIOUS AUTHORITIES AND INDIVIDUALS QUOTED OR MENTIONED 






YIFIA OOIMYCOMMEKCIAL CLUB 

YTIMA., ARIZONA. 
1909 







"A Date with a Yuma Valley Fis Ti 
(Fig Tree in the Background) 



i you 



•t 




"T first thought it seems a long stretch of imagination from the Chaldaea, the Media and the Canaan 
of the ancients to the United States of today. 

From the periodically afflicted peoples of Assyria, Mesopotamia and the Holy Land, who 
were wont to journey down into Pharaoh's Egypt in years of drouth to buy the corn which their rebellious 
soil and untoward climate denied them, it would appear a far cry to the present-day inhabitants of the most 
prosperous, the farthest advanced and the greatest nation of the world. 

And yet the simile is not misplaced, nor the comparisons we would draw far-fetched. 

For the average locality of our Union, prosperous though the country as a whole may be, knows its 
seasons of drouth, its rigors of winter, its impoverished or unfertile soil, its periods of struggle for the 
necessaries of life. 

And here in the great Southwest, traversed by another Nile, stretches the Egypt of the New World 
— land of plenty, home of contentment — where neither seasons nor water fail; where the vine and fig tree 
flourish side by side with the date and the olive, the orange and the lemon ; where balmy breezes and Italian 
skies invite alike the seeker after an ideal home spot and the searcher after health; where Opportunity awaits 
the touch of Industry and Capital; where waving fields beckon the husbandman of less favored localities and 
proclaim that in seasons of drouth the road to well-filled granaries leads down into the beautiful Yuma 
Valley of Arizona, in the center of which and on the banks of the wealth-laden Colorado sits Yuma, 
future metropolis of a peerless commonwealth. 

To tell of this valley and town the present volume was designed. To tell, without exaggeration or 
striving after high-sounding phrases, of the many truly wonderful advantages and resources of a unique and 
beautifully endowed portion of God's footstool ; to describe the great project by which the Government of 
the United States is harnessing the waters of the Colorado, even as the British Government has after similar 
fashion converted to man's uses and convenience the waters of the Egyptian Nile ; to herald the news, in few 
words and truthful illustration, of a country which may as nearly approach the proverbial land of milk and 
honey as any under the sun, is the aim of this Pictorial Story. 




ffi 



us. reclamation: SERVICE 

YUMA PROJECTi 










v.-*^ 

!i*~ 




'ITH agricultural, horticultural and viticultural pos- 
sibilities equalling, if not excelling those of any 
similar area of the earth's surface, certainly sur- 
passing all other sections of the United States; 
with a climate seemingly made expressly for growing things 
— growing them quickly, early, in fact continuously, and in 
marvelous abundance and quality; with a soil endowed by 
nature in unprecedented manner with the essentials of effective 
fertilization ; with a wealth of elixir-laden water flowing by 
and needing but the harnessing, it is not strange that the 
Yuma Valley attracted early attention from the United 
States Reclamation Service. 

These things amply proven to the government's pains- 
taking experts — agriculturists, economists, engineers — it nat- 
urally followed that the Yuma Project, with its great Indian 
Weir dam across the mighty Colorado, its miles of protect- 
ing levees and its comprehensive system of canals, should 
have been among the first enterprises authorized by the De- 
partment of the Interior under the terms of the wise and 
beneficent Reclamation Act. Map of the Yuma Project 

With the vital portions of this great project practically 
completed, the permanent and dependable wedding of soil and water assured and beamed upon by the same 
kindly sky which justly inspired the earliest settler's enthusiasm ; with a period of progress and develop- 
ment such as few countries have known looming immediately before; with a truthful story to unfold 
which should mean much to judicious investors no less than to the nation's industrious searchers 
after homes, we Yumaites claim justification for this effort to tell the world of the riches that are 
ours and the great good that has come to us. 
Of the Yuma Project itself many pages might be written and the story but half told. Of its influence 
and effect upon Yuma and Yuma Valley, the situation may be briefly and yet most accurately 
described by acknowledging that it means — Everything. Rich soil, marvelous climate and life- 
laden waters were here before the Reclamation Service, but the Colorado bears great problems 
on its turbulent wave, and private capital is timid and ofttimes inefficient. But for the hand 
of the government this booklet might have been years delayed. Of the Project's physical 
features — what it is, how constructed and the land it will cover — the reader is referred 
to the descriptive article on another page by Project Engineer Francis L. Sellew. 



E&asa 



=OceG23^2SS 




CJ 



HE kernel of our 
story is Yuma 
Valley's wealth 
of vegetation 
producing ingredients, the 
versatility of its conditions, 
the wonderful range of its 
producing powers. Follows 
in sequence the opportuni- 
ties thus afforded to health- 
seekers, wealth- seekers and 
home-seekers, on the farm 
lands or in the town they 
surround ; follows the story 
of that town, its splendid 
location ; alluring prospects 
and inviting field for invest- 
ment; comes in turn the tale 
of our wealth-lined hills, 
with their stores of gold 
and silver, copper and lead, 
iron and cinnabar, while 
over all looms the fact of the world's most 
nearly perfect all-year climate — perpetual sun- 
shine, no snow, almost no frost, and never a 
heat that will hurt anyone. 

When the evidence shall all be in there will 
appear nothing strange or unbelievable in Presi- 
dent Roosevelt's estimate of lands in the lower 
valleys of the Colorado River, which in a mes- 
sage to Congress he made in these words: 

"A most conservative estimate, after full 
development, must place the gross products from 
this land at not less than $700 per acre per 
year; every ten acres of which will support a 
family when under intense cultivation. Much of 
the land will be worth from 
$500 to $1500 per acre to 



#» 



individual owners." But to the kernel: The proud and exceptional boast is made that 
every month of the calendar produces in Yuma Valley something of profit to the husband- 
man, ample verification of which the following pages will provide: 




"LFALFA. which is 
rapidly becoming 
the standard forage 
plant ol the world, 
has its home in ^ uma Valley. 
Every month in the year sees 
it being cut in this favored lo- 
cality, while seven cuttings is 
considered the minimum when 
harvested for hay alone. Prop- 
erly tended fields average ten 
tons per acre. For several 
years past the price of baled al- 
falfa has not fallen below $13 
per ton. 

The growing of alfalfa seed 
is becoming an important indus- 
try, 500 pounds per acre being 
a normal yield. Growers fre- 
quently report higher averages, B. L. Hansberger 
reporting 700 pounds per acre from one field. 

A typical instance of alfalfa profit is that of 
W. W. Woodman, who reported that from four- 
teen acres he sold 7280 pounds of seed for twelve 
cents per pound, which, after deducting $123.60, 
the c»st of hulling and sacking, left him 
$750; then sold $50 worth of 
alfalfa straw, and before and 
after the seed crop cut sixty 
tons of fine hay on which 
the average profit was $ 1 0, 
thus figuring a net profit 
of approximately $100 
per acre. This is not an 
exceptional case. 




The Home of Alfalfa 




Stacking Alfalfa in Ja 









2£3§^S8S0ec- 





A Midwinter Garden 









The Esculent Onior 


Out-Berm 


udas Ber 


muda 






. • :-■>-.'. 





'INTER gardening in Yuma 
Valley is certain to ac- 
quire a world-wide fame. 
The accompanying photo- 
graph of a flourishing garden contain- 
ing peas — matured, young and in 
blossom — spinach, radishes, beets, 
turnips, onions, cabbages, lettuce and 
many other garden products, was 
taken December 22, 1 908, on the 
place of Edward Reider. A similar 
picture might be taken on any fall, 
winter or spring day. The industry 
is proving a great profit to Mr. Reider 
as well as to other thrifty gardeners. 
Saxon P. Huss, one of the Val- 
ley's substantial farmers, had string 
beans and strawberries from his home 
garden, grown without protection, on 
Christmas day. Nobody would blame the North- 
erner or Easterner whose mouth waters at this infor- 
mation. 

Onion growing was begun in 1907 upon the 
initiative of the Arizona University Experimental 
Station, and here again Yuma Valley soil, water 
and weather were found not wanting. The White 
Bermuda, in particular, proved the adaptability of 
the section. One and two-tenths acres, under intel- 
ligent cultivation yielded a net profit of about $400. 
Onions are strictly a winter crop, the seed being 
planted in September, transplanted in December and 
harvested in April and May, thus securing the ad- 
vantage of a high-priced early market. From 
eight to twelve tons of White Bermuda on- 
ions is considered an average yield. 



^!S^e^ 




In addition to the advantages of winter gar- 
dening, early spring vegetables are a source of 
phenomenal profit to Yuma Valley farmers. 
Cantaloupes, watermelons and tomatoes, given 
the advantage of an exceptionally early growing 
season are placed on the market in May and June, 
at a time which practically relieves them of com- 
petition. K. S. Yowell sold $1363 worth of 
watermelons from eight acres, without 
hauling them off the ground, and in- 
stances of greater returns are 
known. From an acre of canta- 
loupes E. L. Crane proved the 



© 



ARLEY and wheat are Yuma Val- 
ley staples, both yielding excep- 
tionally well. An average of fifty 
bushels of barley to the acre, sown 
any time between September 1 and March 1 , 
may be depended upon. The favorite method 
of growing barley and wheat is to sow early 
and harvest in March or April. The splendid 
utility of a grain crop will be better realized 
when it is understood that a crop of corn, maize, 
pumpkins or melons may be grown on the same 
ground during the same season. 




possibility of a net return of $41 8.92, while the same grower, from an acre of tomatoes, 
realized $551.88 net. These latter, with slight protection, may be had every day 
in the year. Celery, cauliflower and asparagus are also successful crops. 




- s: #•■ > 



of the Field 




ffi 



'HILE the cutting and baling of succulent 
alfalfa goes merrily on, in season and 
out of season, other crops are steadily 
demanding attention and yielding com- 
mensurate returns. 

Milo maize, Kaffir corn and sorghum are highly 
successful and profitable forage crops. Yuma Val- 
ley sunshine provides the fodder with an abundance 
of saccharine matter, and the stock to which it is 
fed does the rest. In point of prolificness, it 
may be said with little exag- 
geration that the main 
item of expense is haul- 
ing. All varieties of stock thrive on these fodders, and the market demand 
at good prices has never been supplied. As a poultry feed the grain excels 
and finds ready sale in the head at $30 per ton. Four and five tons of 
grain per acre are not uncommon yields. Threshed seed of the Milo maize 
and Kaffir corn bring $2 to $2.50 per hundred. A spring and a fall crop 
may be grown in any season, the latter, however, being most prevalent. Sugar 
cane is produced successfully, but in small quantities, being principally sold as 
a confection. Millet may be grown any time from February to November. 



"Sorghum Glist'i 




•UMA VALLEY corn asks no 
odds of Kansas or Iowa. Here 
we have a corn belt of our 
own, and the testimony of 
farmers who grow this cereal is enough to 
stagger the Middle Westerner. Fifty bush- 
els the acre is an average yield, for either 
of the two crops which may be grown in 
one season. If rotation is desired, corn 
may be succeeded by barley or barley by 
corn, and fifty bushels of each is considered 
a not unlikely product from an acre of 
ground. If desired, pumpkins or squashes 
may be given the place of either crop. 

Edward Reider tells of a thousand 
dollar crop on an acre of his ranch which 
was managed as follows: In January he 
planted Irish potatoes and in March corn 
was placed between the rows. Both were 
harvested June 1 st. August 1 st he again 
planted corn and the last of September 
turnips were added between the rows. All 
matured well and the commercial value was 
a round thousand dollars. 

Christmas roasting ears, it will be con- 
ceded, are a delicacy, and in most 
countries an impossible luxury, but 
here they are not uncommon. 







v--- 



Valley's Corn Belt 








GOTTON culture promises to be 
come an important industry in 
Yuma Valley. The soil, climate 
and water combine to produce 
gross returns sixfold greater than the average 
cotton lands of the South. 

The United States Department of Agri- 
culture has been experimenting the past two 
seasons with Egyptian cotton, a variety that 
is particularly well adapted to our climatic 
conditions. The excellent length, strength 
and fineness of the Egyptian cotton fiber 
gives it a market value nearly twice that of 
short staple upland cotton. Average gross 
returns of $ 1 00 per acre can be depended 
upon in cotton culture. — W. A. Peterson, 
Superintendent Yuma Experiment Station. 

Yuma Valley tales of sweet potatoes 
tend to engender grave doubts in the minds 
of those who don't know Yuma Valley. 
But the toothsome Southern tubers speak for 
themselves, and fatten the bank accounts of 
those who grow them. Attaining tremendous 
size, the Yuma Valley sweet potato does 
not possess the stringiness and unpalatable- 
ness of the large sizes grown elsewhere, but, 
on the other hand, is deliciously sweet. Po- 
tatoes of twenty pounds in weight are not 
infrequent, while they have been known twice 
as large. S. P. Huss dug four hills on Christ- 
mas day, taking therefrom 1 1 6 pounds. K. S. 
Yowell received $500 for an acre and 
a quarter planted in April and dug 
in October and November. Other 
instances of great profit 
could be cited 
indefinitely. 



^y 












Feeders for the Market 



XN spite of the handsome profits tc 
be realized from growing and mar- 
keting in "original packages" of 
the various grains, cereals, fodders 
and hays to which attention has been directed, 
there are nevertheless many who firmly hold 
to the belief that still greater profits are to 
be realized from the converting of these pro- 
ducts into stock of various kinds — into beef 
steers and hogs, or better still, into choice 
dairy stock or fine horses. 

Whichever line of industry may yield the 
greater profit, certain it is that Yuma Valley 
possesses ideal conditions for the growing of 

livestock of any and every kind, and those who are devoting themselves to it profess to be contented 

with their lot. Dairy herds are profitable and fine horses are in great demand at good prices. 

Hogs are easily grown, being immune from disease under the healthful conditions 

existing, while alfalfa, barley and corn constitute a feed which gives them both 

early weight and delicious flavor. 




rbacks. but Mortgage Raisers 




the Hen Fruit Gr 




Making Money While You Sleep 



QOULTRY 
ranks high 
up among 
the Valley's 
revenue producers. Of 
course, all well regulated 
farms have their chick- 
ens and their ducks, 
maybe their geese and 
their turkeys, but in 
Yuma Valley are nu- 
merous farmers who put 
most of their eggs in the 
chicken basket — and 
take many fold there- 
from. There appears no danger of glutting the 
chicken market, and a brighter prospect could hardly 
be conceived than that which confronts the systematic 
poultrymen of this section. 

Poultrymen of otherwheres will be justified in 
sitting up and taking notice when they read that 
H. W. and S. T. Merrill, who keep accurate track 
of results, realized $2.40 net per hen during the 
season of 1906 and increased this to $2.43 during 
the season of 1907. 

Apiculture has for several years claimed no 
little attention, and the industry is rapidly becoming 
more popular. A score of apiaries are 
without exception producing handsome 
revenue for their owners. The native 






mesquite and other growths, coupled with the ever-present alfalfa bloom, produce a white 
honey unequalled in looks and excellence. It commands the top price and enjoys an 
unlimited market. 






H^^HE deciduous fruit industry 
■ ] has not yet been developed 

^^^^^ to an extent which is 

plainly possible, but enough 
has been accomplished to prove that 
a great future is in store for it. By 
catering to the early market, Yuma 
Valley fruit will occupy a class by 
itself and bring handsome returns to 
the horticulturists. J. M. Thacker's 
pear orchard produces a revenue of 
$450 per acre. Apricots reach the 
market ahead of all competitors and 
bring handsome prices. Delicious figs 
ripen during the early days of May 
and command almost unbelievable 
prices, while a regular second crop adds 
to the profit. Three distinct crops of high-grade 
Maiden Blush apples were picked in one season by 
S. P. Huss, the first crop amounting in instances to 
1 00 pounds per tree. Peaches, plums and persim- 
mons do well, and some varieties of almost every 
sort of deciduous fruit grown anywhere. From 
one of Mr. Huss' five-year-old plum trees 
he picked 200 pounds. 

Some of the commercial nuts have been 
proven, notably almonds and pecans. 

Grape culture will soon be numbered 
among the important industries of the Valley. Con- 
ditions are ideal for raisin making, while table 
grapes of the highest quality are marketed from 
May to December. 
















A Young Pear Orchard 




Five-Year-Old Plum Tree 




a result of extensive 
experiments being con- 
ducted by the United 
States Department of 
Agriculture, the success of date cul- 
ture in this sun-kissed spot is assured, 
thus adding to the avenues of profit 
in which other sections of the Union 
may not enter. The choicest varie- 
ties of Persian and Arabian dates 
come to perfect maturity, and the vast 
sums of money which annually go for 
the importing of this popular fruit 
will in a few years be diverted to the 
small area of country in which the 
date may be grown at home, besides 
having a delicacy — fresh dates — at 
present unknown to but few Ameri- 
cans. Estimates of $1000 a year 

profit from an acre of date palms is thought 

to be conservative. 

Olives grow to perfection, both oil and 

the pickled fruit equalling the similar pro- 
ducts of any country in the world. 
Of the small fruits, strawberries 

and blackberries have been the 

most thoroughly proven. 

Strawberries ripen all the 

way from January — and 

even a little earlier — to 

June, and the market is 

unlimited. Blackberries 

are great croppers 

and find ready 

sale. 



^^^^seascD^sOT^^s^sossi 




XN citrus fruits the mesa 
land separating the val- 
ley below Yuma and 
that above Yuma, and 
which will also come under the 
V uma Project, excel. The or- 
anges, lemons and pomelos, or 
grape fruit, here grown are ac- 
knowledged to have no superior, 
generally commanding from $1 to 
$3 per box more in the Eastern 
markets than the fruit from other 
semi-tropical states, its superiority 
and earliness combining to this end. 
Ripe oranges were shipped this 
season on October 8th, lemons 
October 20th, and grape fruit 
November I 1 th. 

The best authorities are unanimous in declaring that 
the Yuma grape fruit, by reason of its exceeding juici- 
ness and freedom from the excessive bitter which char- 
acterizes that grown elsewhere, is the choicest in the 
world. 

Limes and the famous Sicilian citrons of commerce 
also command attention. 

At the Arizona Fair of 1 908, first prizes were taken 
by Yuma grape fruit, lemons, Mediterranean sweet 
oranges, Bartlett pears, egg plant, Mexican June corn, 
yams, Louisiana sugar cane, pumpkins and peanuts. 
And be it understood that these honors were attained 
in competition with the products of the only sec- 
tion in the United States which can com- 
pare in favorable conditions with the 
Yuma district. 




Do Not Come 




Pride of the Pomelo Orchard 




The World's Choicest Grape Fruit 



fi 




ROM the evidence thus of- 
fered it will be seen that 
Yuma Valley, with per- 
petual growing weather, 
marvelously productive soil and an 
almost limitless range of products, 
must necessarily and essentially be- 
come a section of small holdings and 
the most intensive cultivation. Not 
only may ten acres, thriftily and in- 
telligently handled, be made to yield 
a living for the average family, but 
the utmost independence, comfort, 
education and a competence for old 
age are not too much to add to the 
estimate. If personal testimony is in order, 
here is what Mr. F. E. Elliott says: 

"On May 15, 1906, I bought twenty acres 
of Yuma Valley land, ten acres of which was 
in barley. This was cut May 25th and yielded 
some twenty-five sacks (about fifty bushels) per 
acre. August 1 st this same land was planted 
to corn and averaged thirty-five bushels per acre. 
On March 15, 1907, three-eighths of an acre 
was planted to watermelons and from it $225 
worth of melons were sold, while from 378 
Muscat grape vines I sold $275 worth of grapes, 
the birds destroying about $50 worth." 




the Navigable Colorado 




'DMA of today, with its 3000 population, 
macadamized streets, cement sidewalks, 
modern lighting and other conveniences, 
creditable business establishments, beau- 
tiful homes, schools, churches and excellent society, 
is a long stride in advance of the Yuma of yes- 
terday. But if natural advantages argue for aught, 
if there is potency in a perfect location, if sur- 
roundings such as have builded the best cities of 
the country are of worth, then surely the Yuma 
of tomorrow must needs be the metropolis of the 
Great Southwest. 

Situate on the navigable Colorado River, at 
the transcontinental Southern Pacific Railroad's 




Main Street on the Fourth of July 



crossing of that waterway; southern gateway to California; objective point of a railroad building 
from San Diego, which will open a direct route to the illimitable markets of the Orient; pos- 
sessed of a water outlet to the Gulf of California and the Pacific; center of an agricultural 
and horticultural region beyond compare; headquarters for a mining district rivalling the Klondike 
in extent and excelling it in richness; blessed with a health-giving atmosphere and skies such 
as Italy cannot boast, Yuma has in her own right the making of a city of a hundred thousand 



and that in a few years. 






/I 



ujiiiimiiiiimiiiir 







i 



Looking Do 



■HBHHMH 



On <2& OyT> 










HERE have been drawbacks and 
delays, disappointments and fail- 
ures, such as all towns are heir 
to, but by and all, through good 
report and ill, the prosperity of Yuma has 
been more faithful and the effect of finan- 
cial stringencies less apparent, than most 
towns can boast. With the approach to 
completion of the Yuma Project, life and 
vigor are noticeable in every walk and every 
quarter. Yuma's future is assured. 

Today there are openings for numerous 
business enterprises, particularly of a manu- 
facturing character. With the growth in population which has already set in, these opportunities will 
correspondingly increase. 

A goodly number of cultured and well-to-do families, attracted by Yuma's balmy winters and 
the life-giving properties of her ozone, annually come as to a haven of refuge from the ice and snow and 
chilling blasts, the pneumonia and the "rheumatiz" of North and East; but when the beauties of our 
climate and the health in our air shall become matters of more common information, the tide of travel 
will be a regular and an important social, commercial and industrial condition. 



A Section of Or 



iiiiiimimumiiiiiu 







'UMA has five churches 

— Baptist. Methodist, 

Episcopal, Christian 

and Catholic. The 
Valley has four — two Methodist 
and two Baptist. 

A splendid educational sys- 
tem affords the youth of the town 
with high school and grammar 
school advantages, while seven 
grammar schools in the Valley 
give the rural children an equal 

New 

snow. 

There are active and flourish- 
ing lodges of all the principal secret societies, such as Masons, 
Elks, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Workmen, Woodmen, 
Foresters, Eagles, Spanish-American Alliance, Eastern Star, 
Pythian Sisters, Rebekahs and others. 

1 wo women's clubs — the Yuma Women's Club and the 
Ocotillo Club — are well organized and important features of 
local social and civic life. 

An incorporated Sportsmen's Association furnishes athletic 
amusements, especially baseball, for those who enjoy that sort 
of diversion. 

And last, but not least in the shape of permanent organiza- 
tions of a public or semi-public nature, the Commercial Club 
is an enthusiastic body of business men who sincerely believe 
that Y uma is destined to rapidly become a great city. Every 
possible effort of this body is being unselfishly exerted toward 
that end. 




High School Building 




Calling the Pupils 




Drinking Water from the 







MONG the important projects 
for the upbuilding of Yuma 
now being promoted by the 
Commercial Club are the se- 
curing of terminal freight rates from 
Eastern manufacturing points; the enact- 
ment of Congressional legislation looking 
toward the deepening of the Colorado's 
channel to the Gulf of California; and 
the building of a free wagon bridge across 
the river at this point, for the purpose 
of bringing the body of Indian land soon 
to be open to entry, and other points 
naturally tributary, into most intimate re- 
lationship with Yuma. 

In the matter of securing terminal rates 
the Club has powerful backing and a just 
cause, and there is every hope of success. Located 
as the town is, on a waterway to the Pacific, and be- 
ing a port of entry from Mexico, it is urged by good 
authorities that the rates asked must be granted. 
Once possessed of the advantage of freight accom- 
modations similar to those enjoyed by Los Angeles 
and coast points, Yuma will speedily become a whole- 
sale center of importance, distributing supplies to prac- 
tically all of Arizona and a considerable portion of 
Southern California. 

Yuma has now transcontinental railroad advan- 
tages via the Southern Pacific; a line to Laguna, 
site of the great irrigation dam; a road to Calex- 
ico, in Imperial Valley, which it is said will be 
extended to the Gulf, and still another line is building from San Diego. A survey has also been made 
for a railroad through Yuma Valley to the Mexican boundary. There is steamer transportation to the 
Gulf of California and wagon roads lead to the numerous interior towns and mining camps of the county. 




Steamer at the Dock 



m 



'HILE the great agricultural 
country tributary to ^ uma 
is of the utmost importance 
to the business life and 
progress of the town, the county s min- 
ing industry contributes in very great 
degree to the distribution of wealth. 
It is probable that there is not a sec- 
tion of the world of like area possessed 
of greater mineral richness, and the 
attention of mining investors is being 
attracted as it never has before. In 
a dozen mining districts east and north 
of Yuma valuable deposits of gold, 
silver, copper, lead, iron and cinnabar 
are being opened, and numerous pro- 
ducing mines are helping to make Arizona what 
it is today — the leading copper producer of the 
United States. 

In a short time the Yuma Indian Reserva- 
tion, lying immediately across the river from 
Yuma, will be thrown open to entry, an event 
which will attract many visitors. Although the 
tract is comparatively small, the fertility of the 
soil and the fact that when thrown open the 
government canal will be conveying water to 
every parcel of it combine to make this one of 
the most important drawings of Indian lands 
yet conducted by the government. At present 
the land is in its raw state, as shown by the 
accompanying illustration. 




nty Gold Produc 




=S3!§SgES( 





MONG the conveniences 
Yuma enjoys may be 
mentioned electric lights 
and power, fuel and 
lighting gas, adequate water facilities, 
an ice plant of seventy tons daily 
capacity and a well-regulated cream- 
ery. A three-story reinforced con- 
crete post office building is in course 
of construction. There are modern 
department stores as well as those 
carrying special lines, and three well 
appointed and conducted hostelries. 
Notwithstanding the last named item 
there is a magnificent opening for a 
mammoth tourist hotel, which would 
be filled with guests the year around. 
Two substantial banks and four newspapers attest 
to the town's financial ana educational status. 

From an esthetic standpoint Yuma occupies 
a position of which many older cities might well 
feel proud. Given the same advantages of rich 
soil and kindly sun which combine to make her 
agricultural industries the pride of the community, 
scores of her homes and residence lots are veri- 
table flower gardens. Not only does this condition 
maintain to render pleasing to the eye the town's 
beautiful residence sections during the summer 
months, but throughout fall, winter and spring 
wildernesses of bloom greet the sight and 
fragrant perfumes scent the air. 



-\A- 




'ND in closing, just a word about the cli- 
mate — our much maligned and misrep- 
resented climate. 

Sunny days? Yes, indeed; in fact, 
if the quip may be pardoned, that's where we shine. 
To quote the record of the United States Weather 
Bureau on the subject of cloudless days would be 
to invite smiles of incredulity; suffice it to say, our 
sunshine is as near perpetual as the world produces. 
For eight months the weather is perfect — the other 
four are hot. And that's the great secret of our 
long growing season. The heat, however, neither 
kills nor prostrates. It makes a high thermometer, 
but the air is dry and pure, and the sensible heat does 
not approach an Eastern day of eighty-five or ninety 

degrees. 1 he best sleepers take their night rest in conveniently arranged summer houses which are not 
more nor less than frames covered with cheese cloth, and cool breezes from the Gulf of California complete 
the most delicious and restful sleeping accommodations known. In the day time, all manner of indoor 
and outdoor workmen, from clerical men to farmers, ply their vocations uninterruptedly and without suffering. 
Not a statement has been made in this booklet but can be amply verified. The fullest investigation 
is invited, with entire confidence that the result will only magnifiy the merits of the most promising city and 
the most richly endowed section of the Great Southwest. 





of Departing Day 




1 



stant, mountainous country; _. 

oth rivers empty into great land-locked arms of the ocean at a little less than 32° 

the Nile, the Colorado has, for long distances along its lower courses, created a 

,ile soil in the midst of the desert through which it flows, and has deposited a great 

st by its skj Yuma and the Gulf of California. This delta is chiefly Mexican territory. Like 



The Colorado River 



bulk of the 
wned canal 
n in a most 

ike through! 

stream ab 

main irriga| 

ly from th< 
weir, bringii 
ill further 

the greater 
the surface 
liceways, th 

from the tc[ 
immense 

e river belo 



Yuma, Ariz., November 9, 1908. 
President, 

lunty Commercial Club, Yuma, Ariz, 
your inquiry of even date, I have to inform you that the Colorado River is formed 
rt of Utah by the union of the Grand and the Green Rivers. The Green is the larger 
upward continuation of the Colorado. Including the Green, the entire length of the 
10 miles. The drainage ground is about 800 miles long, varying in width from 300 
to 500 miles and containing 300,000 square miles of 
area. It comprises the southwestern part of Wy- 
oming, the western part of Colorado, the eastern 
half of Utah, practically all of Arizona, and small 
portions of California, Nevada, New Mexico and 
Old Mexico. 

The rivers receive their main supply from the 
melting snows on the high mountains of Wyoming, 
Utah and Colorado. In the upper reaches the 
streams flow through canyons of practically inac- 
cessible depth, which results in preserving their fer- 
tile waters for the irrigation of the rich bottom 
lands below. 

In Bulletin No. 44 of the Arizona Experiment 

Station, Prof. R. H. Forbes thus describes the river: 

"The Colorado River is in many respects 

remarkably similar to the historic Nile. Like the 

its lower courses traverse a subtropical and nearly 



Jirough the 
This long 
ses not affe(| 
water, 
nt of the d 
ith will hav 
1th is increas| 
So River is r 
eter, placed 



Mighty Colorado" 



ypt, the Colorado is subject to an annual summer rise sufficient to overflow great 
d delta lands. These high waters are rich in fertilizing sediments, are exceptionally 
:s, and come at an opportune time for irrigation. When the Colorado floods are 
Yuma Indians fail of satisfactory crops, just as do the Egyptians with a low Nile, 
climatic conditions in winter are slightly more severe in the Colorado Delta than 
pet these two regions closely resemble each other agriculturally. Some common 
r be), alfalfa, wheat and grains of the surghum class; the date palm, fig, orange, 
:e; cotton, melons and sugar cane. 

orado is understood and utilized as successfully as is its greater and better known 
als, one ne 3 cogn i ze d as the American Nile, the creator of a new country for the irrigator, and 



asterly cana 
rable point 
le Reservat: 
) per cent o 



.ital Egypt." 






Very respectfully, 

FRANCIS L. SELLEW, 

Project Engineer. 



33SC2^S2£2 



Yuma Project Engineering Features 



The Yuma County Commercial Club, Yuma, Ariz.: 

Gentlemen: The following statement concerni 

submitted in response to the recent request of your '. 

The ultimate area which will be under the 



Mr. C. D, Bake 



will be reached. 



The 



i the Lower Gila Valley ai 

orks at present under const 
' and the 



1 Califoi 

Construction an area of 71.392 acres— and also i 

15,000 acres on the Mesa near the 
completed an area of about 8C.00O acres will be available foi 
for the small canal which later will serve the Gila Valley areas. 

The principal feature of the Yuma Project, viewed froi 
LACUNA Dam. which lies across the Colorado River about fou 
DAM point the high granite hills of both Califorr 



cd. a grand total of about I. 

n will serve I » v gravity < ..dials 
it Yuma Valley in Arizona- 
ides for |jLini|iiii|; in the ftitu 
n of Yuma. TIiub \ ' 



also provided 
standpoint, is Lagun; 



■ for 



material e 
material for a dam was found ; 
cived the approval of the t 



.,1 t.lhci 



inn! t.-iij;ii 






■ built, and so Lagun. 



the kind of s 

construction which originated in India s 

numerous places in that country, on large rivers wil 

physical characteristics to the Colorado. Three such 

Egypt during recent years. Thus, while Laguna Dam 






At this 

and Arizona border the river for a short distance 
) serve the fertile lands below. Diamond drill 
nation upon which a high dam could be built, the 



:cn placed across the Nile 
c of its type to be built in tl 
r a design which has proved i 






before the canals arc reached. Obsen 
sediment is near the bottom, so it is d 
, while there may be a 

milium the canal supply i 



Lagun 



of the sluiceway prisms. The down 
which will be opened periodically an 

It is seen from the above that the supply for the Yu 
through the lake above the dam: it is further clarified by i 
and then the top only of this sluiceway supply is allowed 
sedimentation, while it removes a large amount of earthy n 
as a fertilizing agent, which is one of the most valuable fui 
al of the project will havi 



dmirable 



lake through which the 
of the stream above. Thus 
:d. The main irrigation canals 
immediately from the river, but 
bove the weir, bringing water to 
:sult in still further silt deposits 
has shown that in a flowing stream the greater volume of 
: to take a canal supply from as near the surface as possible; 
of 12 to 15 feet of water in the sluiceways, the regulator 
,at the irrigating water shall all come from the top 15 inches 
nds of the sluiceways are closed by immense sluice gates 
way deposits washed back i 



rith the norma 

before the head works are read 

I will not take their supplj 

tream several hundred feet 

which will 



; it passes through the : 

■ /the limits of the s 

ugh the Indian Re; 



Canals the first 7000 f< 

width of about 45 fe 
75 feet, which dimension contin 
stream will be crossed by an in' 

the river bottom. Below the siphon Yuma Valley will be served by two main 
on the west and the other following the foot of the Mesa land on the east. T 
the water for the Mesa, which will be pumped to the higher land at the most 
a portion of this pumping can be developed along the line of the main canal 
first installation will create about 1000 net horsepower, which will provide f 



1 canals is clarified first by its slow r 
still slower progress through the slui 
3 enter the canals. This lone pre 
ter from the water, does 
ions of the Colorado water, 
the westerly abutment of th< 



,]fic L t 1 



and for 
bottom 



nd hills this bottom 

rvation until the Colorado River is reached; the 
.1 diameter, placed well below 




land. Radiating from these 



Levees arc an essential feature of this 
LEVEES project, because the rich bottom lands 

are subject to overflow during the an- 
nual Colorado flood and also during the erratic 
rises of the Gila. A complete levee system has been 
designed and is now well advanced; that in the 



the dam. This lev 



nnual inundation 
The levee from Yuma toward 
for over 22 miles, and the re- 
of embankment reaching 



mainder of this long li 

to the Mexican boundary is in such shape that its 
completion is probable during the season of 1909. 
This levee protects the entire Yuma Valley, 



on the Mississippi during the past sixty years h; 
'e the highest known floods. The levees have t 
t frequent intervals by brush defenses t 



has been 1 



The lands behind the I 






:>f the river se 






irrigation. Very fortu 


lately nature 1 


matter of drainage, for a system of sloughs e 


xtends from tl 


as to intercept the drainage of the entire are 


a and this slou 


expense to meet all requirements. A similar 


slough also ex 



1 the 



he Me: 



:an be amplified artificially at slight 
:ends through the Indian Reservation, and so 
while the drainage of these lands cannot be said to have been accomplished, its manner of accomplishment 
at very reasonable expense is clearly indicated by the topography of the country. During most of the year 
the drainage system can discharge into the river at the low 
during floods the discharge of these canals will have to b< 
provided for this purpo: 



Gene 



Work upon the Yuma Project has r 
further delay on the part of the 



ettle: 



by the Service, supplies water for 4000 
canal, formerly under private management, is now in i 
been constructed: this heading has supplied the syste: 



cached such a state that there is no necessity for 
n preparing his land for irrigation. Laguna Dam 
; practically done; a centrifugal^ pump, _ 



the present time; the Fan 



ailed, which 1 
is about 10,000 acres. T 
t of the Yuma Valley to begin at once and c 
nake further operation of these temporary plai 



supply during the low stages of 
) pumps will allow the cultivation 
until the completion of the dam 
:essary. Thirty per cent of Yuma 



Respectfully submitted, 



The Colorado River 



MR. C. D. BAKER. President, 

Yuma County Commcrcia 

Sir: In reply to your inquiry of 

in the southeastern part of Utah by thi 

of the two and is the upward continuation of the Colorado. Including the Green, the < 

Colorado is about 2000 miles. The drainage ground is about S00 miles long, varying 



Club. Yuma, Ariz. 

ven date, I have to inform you that the Colorado Riv 

union of the Grand and the Green Rivers. The Green 



is formed 
:cn is the larger 
re length of the 
width from 300 




Nile, 



1 a distant, 
and both riv 
Like the N 



■ 500 miles and containing .uio.mm square miles of 
area. It comprises the southwestern part of Wy- 
oming, the western part of Colorado, the eastern 
half of Uuih, practically all of Arizona, and small 
portions of California, Nevada, New Mexico and 
Old Mexico. 

The rivers receive their main supply from the 
melting snows on the high mountains of Wyoming. 
Utah and Colorado. In the upper reaches the 
streams flow through canyons of practically inac- 
cessible depth, which results in preserving their fer- 
tile waters for the irrigation of the rich bottom 
lands below. 

In Bulletin No. 44 of the Arizona Experiment 
Station, Prof. R. H, Forbes thus describes the river: 

"The Colorado River is in many respects 
arkably similar to the historic Nile. Like the 



low 



subtropical and nearly 



s empty into great land-locked arms of the ocean at a little less than 32 

, the Colorado has, for long distances along its lower courses, created a 

ribbon of fertile soil in the mi. 1st of tin- desert llin.ni ( ;h which ii Mows, .mil lias deposited a great 

alluvial delta between Yuma and the Gull <>[ California. This delta is chiefly Mexican territory. Like 

the great river of E^ypt, the Colorado is subject to an annual summer rise sufficient to overflow great 



i border and'delta lands, These high 
free from alkaline Balls, and come at an opportu 
less than normal, the Yuma Indiana 

"Although the climatic conditions in Wl 
in that of the Nile, yet these two regions cl 



fail of satisfactory crops, j 






may be), alfalfa, wlic; 



the Colorado is understood and utilized as 
11 be recognized as the American Nile, the 
Occidental Egypt." 



re rich in fcrtili 

r.lli'.lltly 

tach otl 

irghum 

rssfully 



eptionally 
When the Colorado floods are 
do the Egyptians with a low Nile, 
evcrc in the Colorado Delta than 
er agriculturally. Some common 
class; the date palm, fig, orange. 



Very 



espectfully. 
FRANC I 




Looking toward Arizona. California Sluiceway in foreground 




^ 




looking down stream, showing entrance to Canal 
on right 



California Sluiceway during Construct 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



017 135 412 2 # 



im 






^*»."^ 



